Synology DS2411+ vs QNAP TS-659 PRO II - Which to get and what raid?

[renkun]

The Synology DS2411+ & QNAP TS-659 PRO II are roughly the same price (1500 AUS). Im not sure which one should i get so i was wondering if i could get some advice between the two. I read some basic spec sheets but im still wishy washy ><. Im aware that qnap tend to overprice their quality products so is the DS2411 more of a value pick?

Also a second question if i may. My primary usage of this nas will be to backup Media varying from 170MB to 1GB (Mainly video files) so i was wondering what kind of RAID would suit me most? and does either support the one you mention. I was thinking about Raid0+1 but i dont seem to be able to find out if either one can support such a raid based on the brief summaries i read. I was maybe thinking to have 2 sets of RAID 0's is that possible on a nas (or even worthwhile)?

FYI i will be using Seagate Constellation ST32000644NS 2TB's HDD to fill them up. If this isnt a good choice please reccomend me others .

Many thanks.

Ren~

 

[FireWire2]

For $1500.00 you can DIY a VERY NICE NAS and FAST too

Trust me, if you can use keyboard, mouse, screws driver. You are good to go
Search in this forum I have list of how to...

 

[jeroly]

The kind of RAID that would suit you best for backup is... no RAID at all.

RAID is not for backup, but rather for high availability.

Remember that if you accidentally delete a file from a RAID array, it's gone. Unless you have specifically created a backup and stored it somewhere, you can't get that file back.

That all having been said, you _can_ use these systems for backup but you should also have offsite copies in case your whole house, office, or whatever gets trashed by a fire, burglar, etc.

These days, big hard drives are cheap enough that you can just pop a 3TB drive in an external drive, copy your important files to it, and keep it in a safety deposit box at your bank.

If you're constantly creating new files that need to be backed up as well, then you might look into using your NAS as a client for an rsync backup server; the Synology boxes have this ability and I expect most of their competition to provide this as well.


I have had a Synology 1511+ for about two weeks and am very happy with it so far. I am using RAID 10 which provides for both higher availability and faster speed than RAID 5 at the cost of lower capacity. For example, with RAID 5 and four 3TB disks you get 9TB of capacity, whereas you only get 6TB with RAID 10, but you get a 75% chance of surviving two simultaneous drive failures along with faster write speeds.

I'd say that if you have the budget to buy a large NAS box like this then you'd probably want to use RAID 10 or RAID 6 to get extra redundancy over RAID 5. You can always add more capacity if you really need it. I can't speak for the 2411+, but the 1511+ has the ability to add two satellite storage boxes to up the capacity to 15 drives; the add-on boxes cost about $500 each.

The Synology's DLNA media server is working very well, and I'm happy with the media streaming over my 802.11n wireless network. I've also enabled access from the internet to my media and other files; Synology provides iPhone and Android apps so you can play from your phone as well.

It's very true that you can save a lot of $$$ by building your own system which can do everything the prebuilt NAS boxes can do, but you will see a much higher power requirement with a PC.

 

[renkun]

thanks jelroy your input is very appreciated !

One last thing, is the HDD im getting (the 2TB Enterprise level HDD) worth getting or is it just as efficient to get a performance-standard 3TB HDD for this kind of thing? Other then being cheaper are there any other stand outs?

And thanks again for your help ill be buying the 2411. and doing it in a raid 10.

P.S. Could you also link me to a place where i can find out how to recover from a HDD failure in a raid?

 

[jeroly]

The Synology manuals, which you should be able to find online, show how to replace a failed hard drive. You probably want to have things configured so that you either get emails and/or hear an alarm when a drive fails.

The Synology web site has a hard drive compatibility list along with a list of drives reported on by users; check to see if your drive is there. I have heard about some folks having problems with 'green' drives as they don't adhere to TLER error reporting standards and are recorded as having failed when they just haven't started up yet. Other folks have had no problems with green drives, and your mileage may vary...

I was tempted to get a set of the on-sale-on-newegg hitachi 3TB drives for $120 but bit the bullet and got the $180 certified drives, which I think may now be selling for $160...

 

[renkun]

Best answer selected by renkun.